The report is a collaboration between the U.S. Department ofCommerce and Taubman Centers Inc., a shopping center REITheadquartered in suburban Detroit. The Commerce Dept. does amonthly survey of foreign nationals traveling to the United States,typically as they are waiting for their flight home, or while theyare flying en route home. "The survey measures 35 differentcharacteristics of the visit, how long they stayed, how much theyspend, and so forth," Helen Marino, director of the office oftravel and tourism industries at the Commerce Dept., tells GSR. Toascertain the shopping habits of international travelers, Taubmanhad a custom analysis of the government data made, according toMarino.

The 2004 report is a follow-up to an earlier study, developedsix years ago, comparing shoppers and "cultural shoppers" to theUnited States from the top four international markets, by examiningsuch things as trip planning, travel characteristics, travelbehavior and expenditures. "It's clear that international travelersplay a significant role in the American retail marketplace," saysKaren Mac Donald, director of communications at Taubman. "Thisstudy illustrates the value of combining both shopping and culturaltourism to create a more well-rounded travel experience for theinternational travelers."

Mac Donald tells GSR that quantifying tourist shopping has longbeen of interest to the shopping center REIT. "We've been involvedwith promoting tourism, and shopping by tourists, for more than adecade," she says. "At first, some of our properties noticed a lotof tourists coming to shop, and later we examined that phenomenonportfolio-wide."